The WORST episodes of Dad's Army
Every episode of Dad's Army ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Dad's Army!
Introducing the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard, a bunch of hapless old and young men who have kept people all over the world very amused since the 1960s. Writers Jimmy Perry and David Croft made each episode of Dad's Army as funny as the previous one, with an element of humour which has survived decades. It has many of the most memorable catchphrases of any sitcom and due to its public embracing, is one of the most repeated shows in television history. The BBC keeps an episode on queue in case of a fault at Television Centre and it even successfully invaded the big screen with a memorable, well-loved Dad's Army feature film made by Columbia Pictures.
#1 - Branded
Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/20/1969
Godfrey asks to leave the platoon because he doesn't want to fight Mainwaring is furious and the rest of the platoon shun him until they find out that he was a hero from the first war So he rejoins the platoon as medical orderly
#2 - The Lion Has Phones
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/25/1969
Capt Mainwaring teaches the platoon the tactical use of the phone system when a German plane crashes into the towns reservoir. Because Mainwaring and Wilson cannot decide what to do it is left to Walker to come up with a plan to make the Germans surrender
#3 - The Armoured Might of Lance Corporal Jones
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/11/1969
Mainwaring is under orders to be more cooperative with the A.R.P. wardens. A task that's made very difficult by their newly appointed Chief. Walker strikes a deal with Jones to make it easier for him to carry rationed goods without being stopped by the police - he is to let the platoon use his butchers van as a troop carrier and ambulance by day and let Walker use it by night. He bribes Jones with the promise that Jones will receive petrol coupons for it. Unfortunately things don't entirely go to plan...
#4 - Man Hunt
Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 11/27/1969
The platoon are told to be on the lookout for any parachutes found lying about so Walker tells Mainwaring that he has found one. They also take on a dog which they use to track an escaped German pilot but accidently arrest a bird watcher
#5 - Sgt Wilson's Little Secret
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 3/22/1969
Sergeant Wilson overhears Mrs Pike telling Frank that she is expecting a child. Wilson assumes that she is pregnant and that he is the father, but it turns out that she is looking after an evacuee. Mainwaring advises that Wilson marry her, until she clears up the misunderstanding.
#6 - Big Guns
Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/23/1969
The platoon is given a heavy naval artillery piece but the town's bandstand, a rare example of Victorian ironwork, stands in its field of fire. The town council insists it must be preserved but Mainwaring reasons that a demonstration of the gun's capabilities will quiet any protests.
#7 - The Day the Balloon Went Up
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 10/30/1969
The platoon captures a runaway barrage balloon and while trying to secure it Capt Mainwaring is carried aloft
#8 - A Soldier's Farewell
Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/20/1972
During the journey home after a night at the cinema, Mainwaring comes to the assistance of a clippie after Hodges accosts her. Later Mainwaring dreams of being Napoleon with the clippie as Josephine.
#9 - The Captain's Car
Season 7 - Episode 5 - Aired 12/13/1974
Lady Maltby offers her Rolls Royce to Capt. Mainwaring for use as his staff car. After the car has been disguised with camouflage paint, it has to be repainted black, because the mayor's car has run out of petrol, and there's no official car to greet a visiting VIP.
#10 - Things That Go Bump in the Night
Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/5/1973
The platoon gets lost on a wild and stormy night and has to take shelter in an old and deserted house that is used for training tracking dogs. When Pike gets his uniform wet he changes it for an old German uniform, but when the dogs get loose, they chase Pike and the platoon across the fields. Note: Last regular appearance of James Beck as Pte. Joe Walker. Walker only appears in the external scenes as Beck was taken ill shortly before the studio scenes were recorded.
#11 - Museum Piece
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 8/7/1968
With the shortage of weapons, Capt. Mainwaring goes to the local museum to see if any of the guns on display can be used by the platoon.
#12 - War Dance
Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/6/1969
The platoon holds a dance where Pike is going to announce his engagement to a local girl. Sgt. Wilson tries to get him to change his mind but Pike will not be put off.
#13 - Number Engaged
Season 9 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/6/1977
The platoon takes over from the regular army in guarding some vital telephone wires. During an air raid a bomb lands in the wires and a way has to be found to get it down before it explodes.
#14 - When You've Got to Go
Season 8 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/12/1975
Pike finally gets his call up papers and is to join the RAF, but when his blood donation to the Red Cross is checked it is found to be from a rare group and he is designated exempt from military service. Then he has to find a way to break the news to the platoon.
#15 - The Miser's Hoard
Season 9 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/23/1977
Frazer is busy counting up his earnings when his doctor visits and accidentally knocks over a money box revealing that Frazer is far from poor. Concerned, the doctor alerts Mainwaring, who alerts Jones and very soon Frazer's fortune is the subject of town gossip. Eventually the platoon, Hodges, the vicar and the verger are spying on Frazer to see what he does with his money. Will they get their hands on it, or does Frazer have a sneaky trick up his sleeve?
#16 - Turkey Dinner
Season 7 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/20/1974
After the platoon accidentally shoots a turkey, attempts are made to return it to the local farmer, but he will not accept it so the men come up with the idea of providing a dinner for the local OAPs.
#17 - Asleep in the Deep
Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/6/1972
The pumping station of the reservoir has been damaged by a bomb with Walker and Godfrey trapped inside. Hodges is determined to overrule Mainwaring's rescue attempt until it's discovered the structure of the building is very unsafe and they draw lots to decide who are going to be the ones to dig the stranded men out. After successfully reaching Walker and Godfrey, the roof caves in and everyone but Jones ends up trapped in the underground bunker that is now filling rapidly with water. But does Godfrey have a solution that is more useful than asking to be relieved?
#18 - Round and Round Went the Great Big Wheel
Season 5 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/22/1972
The platoon is asked to provide guard duty at a testing ground for secret weapons, but when one of the devices gets out of control the platoon has to give chase.
#19 - Getting the Bird
Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/27/1972
Rumour sweeps through Walmington-on-Sea that Wilson is seeing a young girl. He goes AWOL and is found drunk. It turns out that the girl is his daughter. Meanwhile Walker has taken delivery of pigeons that have been stolen from Trafalgar Square, and has to find somewhere to hide them. Then the platoon assembles for church parade. What could go wrong?
#20 - A Brush with the Law
Season 5 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/15/1972
When the light is left on in the church hall, Chief Warden Hodges suspects that Mainwaring is the culprit and takes him to court. The verger knows what happened, but Hodges will not let him tell the truth.
#21 - Knights of Madness
Season 9 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/16/1977
During a Wings For Victory fundraising event the platoon decides to stage a re-enactment of the battle between St. George and the Dragon, but friction starts when Hodges and the wardens plan the same thing.
#22 - Menace from the Deep
Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/13/1969
The platoon is assigned guard duty on an isolated, disused pier for a week. However, thanks to Pike's poor judgement over how to moor the boat, they end up stranded with no contact with the mainland and no food. Attempts at Morse code only prompt Hodges to pursue the platoon to get them to 'Put that light out!' and he ends up stranded himself. If that wasn't enough, Jones spots a stray mine under the pier, but does Hodges have a solution that'll 'bowl them over'?
#23 - If the Cap Fits
Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/10/1972
The platoon is given a lecture on the German army but because Frazer keeps on complaining, Mainwaring makes him Acting CO of the platoon. Later, when the Colonel asks the platoon to attend a dinner, Mainwaring has to play the bagpipes.
#24 - Command Decision
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 8/14/1968
Capt. Mainwaring, worried about the lack of weapons, gets a visit from Col. Square, an old soldier who offers to donate some guns from his collection, providing he can take command of the platoon. Mainwaring agrees until he sees the state of the guns.
#25 - No Spring for Frazer
Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/4/1969
The search begins for a spring clip for a Lewis gun that Frazer has lost whilst cleaning it. The trail leads them through Frazer's workshop to a Funeral Director, to Mr. Bluett's dining room table, to a graveyard. The platoon stops at nothing, committing various crimes including house breaking and grave robbing to get the clip back. But will they find it in time to save Frazer from a court martial?